Tea

Some thoughts inflate our mind and soul with a queer kind of aroma. The contemplation of gulping down a cup of tea after a hard day's work is one such case in point. Whether it is breakfast, evening snacks or office breaks, tea has surpassed its image of just a drink or beverage. It has transformed itself into an explicit way of life, a style statement and a yardstick for evaluating personal tastes.

It is also a subtle way of letting your guest know that he is welcome in your own domain. Things have come to such a pass that tea-lovers as they are more downright branded cannot imagine a single day of their life without the regular cups of this liquid pleasure. If we analyse the drinking pattern of our country then we shall definitely come to the conclusion that tea remains the most sought after variety of its kind ahead of coffee and other such beverages and in order to understand tea we have got to understand Assam which produces nearly two-thirds of the total tea produced in the world.

Assam Tea

When we talk about Assam Tea we talk about the only kind of native tea that grows indigenously apart from South China. The tea plant whose scientific name is Camellia Sinensis is grown in abundance in the lowlands of Assam. The local variety that is grown in Assam is known as the Assamica. It is believed that the Bodos who are considered to be the earliest settlers of Assam brought tea plantations to Assam. But Robert Bruce along with a local Assamese person Maniram Dewan belonging to the elite intelligentsia rediscovered it in 1823, when they found it growing wild in the deep forests of Assam. China which then was the leader in tea trade left the British planters miles apart. This prompted the local administration which then was under the rule of the British East India Company after the historic Treaty of Yandaboo to send the secretary of Tea Committee George Gordon to China to study and understand the Chinese ways of cultivation. He brought in some Chinese workers to explain the local tea workers the ways and means to improve quality and sustainability. At the same time a huge number of labourers were brought in from Orissa and present Jharkhand (former undivided Bihar) who were considered to be extremely laborious in their ventures to work for the newly developed tea gardens. These people now constitute a distinct group what is called the tea-tribes, an extremely important and politically significant ethnic group of the state.

In order to commercially augment production, the local variety of the tea plant was crossed with the Chinese variety which is still considered to be the most important step in the history of Assam tea. This crossover product is known as the Indian Hybrid tea and has a great odour and colour. May 8, 1838 is construed to be a landmark day in the history of the evolution of Assam tea as 159 kgs of the variety was exported to London and the British people were highly impressed. Consequently the Assam tea industry was born.

With the gradual passage of time since the early nineteenth century, the Assam tea industry has grown both in size and stature and is a definite brand in the international market. Assam tea has a definite logo that has been approved by the Tea Board of India - the supreme body deciding on the policy decisions concerning tea.

The nineties of the last century saw a major dip in exports for Assam tea subject to a myriad number of reasons including labour unrest that has become the norm nowadays, lack of efficient administration with a bold vision ready to steer the tea industry from the sudden slump and visible apathy on the part of the central government in implementing modernisation drive of existing technologies. Consequently the better quality tea produced by countries like Sri Lanka, China and Kenya has captured the international market. But with the rejuvenation of the Assam Tea Corporation and the revival of Guwahati Tea Auction Centre, everything is slated to limp back to normalcy. The results are showing with the exports figure that has risen steeply this year. But in order to sustain the positive tide, it is extremely important for the tea administration to take effective and time bound steps to keep up in the competition. So drink tea and not bear as the WWE superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin often advocates, not for health but for keeping the flags of Assam tea high.

Darjeeling Tea

Darjeeling Tea is widely and universally acknowledged to be the finest tea, because its flavour is so unique that it cannot be replicated. Connoisseurs will assert that without Darjeeling, Tea would be like Wine without the prestige of Champagne.

All Darjeeling teas possess a unique brightness and aromatic flavour that set them apart and above from all other teas and above from all other teas.

However, there are subtle variations across plantations and across the seasons.

Darjeeling tea has four different flushes

• Spring Flush
  
• Summer Flush
  
• Monsoon flush
  
• Autumn flush
  
  

Flush	Time	Description
Spring Flush	Late February-Mid April	These are springtime teas. The young leaves yield a light green tea with liquor that is light, clear, bright and imparts a pleasant brisk flavor.
Summer Flush	May - June	This flush is famed for its prominent quality. The leaf has a purplish bloom.The liquor is bright, the taste full and round with a fruity note.
Monsoon Flush	July - September	During this period the nature of the liquor changes becoming stronger, yet retaining brightness and character.
Autumn Flush	October - November	These autumn-harvested teas are characterised by large leaves that give a round taste and coppery liquor.

Art of Plucking of Darjeeling Tea

Proper plucking of Darjeeling Tea leaves is as unique as its flavour. Great emphasis is given to plucking as true quality is inherent in a good raw material (Tea Leaf) and the special Darjeeling flavours are generated from the very fine plucking standard. The smallest shoots, comprising of two leaves and a bud are plucked. It requires 22,000 such shoots, all plucked by hand - to produce 1 Kg. of Tea. In attaining this high plucking standard, the hilly terrain, makes the task even more difficult.
Darjeeling Tea Pluckers have strived hard for years, battling against difficult terrain, cold, mist, rainfall and so on, to maintain exacting standards. They begin early in the morning, when the overnight dew is still present. Only the most tender leaves are finely plucked by gentle hands. Pluckers are so quick and skilful that it is often impossible to follow the motion of their hands and fingers as they pluck.